Path of Exile
by Infected Patient Zero
Summary: A woman awakes on a foreign planet without any memory of her past life.
1. Awakening

Awakening

"Coward, coward! Come on, nothing's gonna happen.", called a girl to her brother.

"But Laura, it's close to midnight and our father forbids us to go to the woods when it's dark outside. Besides it's dangerous in the woods.", replied her brother Marcus.

"We won't go into the woods but rather to the ring of the ancestors. It's not dangerous there."

Laura tried to convince her brother for some time. He was stubborn, but in the end he gave in. He demanded, "Well, alright. But not for to long." Laura agreed with him. Very soon after that they were heeding towards the Stargate. When they reached the Stargate they stopped and stared. Both of them had been intrigued by the symbols of the Stargate for a long time. The surface was even and cold, but different than normal metal. They also were intrigued by the DHD that stood near the Gate. They especially liked the big, orange stone in the middle. While Marcus was gazing at the DHD, Laura went closer to the Stargate. Suddenly the symbols started to glow. One after another.

"Marcus! Come on, let's hide in the shrubberies!", Laura called out to her brother. As soon as they arrived at the sheltering shrubberies their eyes went wide. It literally looked like there was water horizontally coming out of the ring! But very soon there was only a shimmering, blue surface left where some moments ago only was air. Marcus and Laura had been thrilled what would happen next. After some moments a group of 5 masked men stepped out of the gate. One of them shouldered an unconscious but unharmed woman. All of the men wore black cloaks and, as mentioned, masks. They couldn't make out how they looked like in particular because of the darkness. As soon as the men were complete, the Stargate closed.

The man who carried the woman lay her on the ground. Not to gentle. Some moments elapsed before one of them broke the silence.

"What now? Well, great, we took her away but what are we supposed to do with her now? Leave her behind? Kill her?" - "I have to say, I think the latter is the best idea. Let's gill the demon.", another man replied. And yet another man said, "No, we cannot do this! If we kill her then we wouldn't be better than her. Our leader will surely agree to me. Am I right? Maybe we should let him decide what will happen to her."

The one who talked next was slightly taller than the rest. "How wonderful that I, your leader, are allowed to speak too. Anyway, the question about her fate is irrelevant. Our king whom we all esteem has sealed her fate just before we brought her here. He said she doesn't fear death nor pain. Due to her origin she's only able to live in peace on our home world. Anywhere else she would be hunted and possibly killed. She cannot an doesn't want to go to the Wraith either. Therefore, my fellows, our king said that exile would be far the worst punishment for her." - "Hold on a second, does that mean we should just leave her here? With all the information she shouldn't have?", the second speaker asked nervously.

"Basically, yes. However, members of our...special forces erased her memories. She cannot remember anything. Hopefully I could erase your concerns. Now it's time for us to go back home."

They disappeared as fast as they came. The only thing that proofed that somebody was here at all was the still unconscious woman lying on the ground.

Marcus and Laura were to afraid to look after the woman, so they ran back to the village.

The woman awoke the following morning with horrible a headache. Still a bit numb she tried to sit up. As soon as she could see clearly again, she looked around. And was very confused.

_What happened? And where the hell am I?Why can't I remember anything? Shelter. I need a save shelter before I do anything else._

She attempted to stand up but her legs were still a bit shaky. After a short amount of time she finally managed to stand straight and ran into the woods. As she ran trough the woods she skilfully eluded branches and jumped over every stone and every root in her way. Not once did she fall down. While she was wondering about her very good reflexes she found a cave. She was looking for a relatively long time but eventually she found shelter.

The cave was uninhabited. It was also pretty dark inside, so she felt around for firestones. Suddenly her vision changed into a strange blue. She could see everything in detail but, as mentioned, blue.

_What's going on now? Is that normal? Okay, calm down. Don't go ballistic. Let's see what you can still remember instead. Hm...my name! My name is Althea. My age...no idea. Friends maybe, or a family...no, can't remember. Where am I and why am I here?...don't know, again. Well, at least I know my own name. It's not much, but it's a beginning. So, how do I get rid of this strange "blue-vision"? I mean, well, it's quite useful now, but I can imagine it's not very comfortable to go into the light of the day._

Suddenly there was darkness again. It seemed like she just needed to concentrate to change visions. After that Althea realized that she had no water, food or at least a weapon. So she explored the closer surroundings. She couldn't name it, but she had the feeling that if someone should attack her now, she could deal with it. Inexplicably she was absolutely sure of that.

After about an hour Althea made out a village. She was very happy to actually see anybody so she went straight to the village. That was the first and last time she went to see people without hiding herself behind a mask or something similar. She first didn't recognize how the people were looking at her. But when she met their eyes, she saw fear, confusion or pure hate. Sometimes even all at the same time.

_These people obviously don't see visitor very often._

As Althea looked around she spotted an arsenal at the other side of the market place. As soon as she considered whether to get over there and get her a weapon or not, a bunch of tall, well built and well armed men stopped directly in front of her. The leader was about 40 and held a terrifying axe in his right hand. The rest of the men were armed with simple swords.

Althea had a very bad feeling about this and mentally readied herself for defending her life. She knew if the men started a fight she only had the opinion to run. She simply couldn't fight so many men. Especially if she herself was in no possession of any weapon. After the leader eyed Althea for some moments with a mixture of fear, disgust and contempt he finally said, "Who and what are you? You are as tall as my men. But still you are obviously a woman. Explain that! What are your purposes? And what's most important: Do you serve the Wraith?"

Althea wasn't sure if it was good that the man asked so many questions but she was almost sure that she knew these 'Wraith'. When she thought of these creatures she felt pure hatred arise inside of her. But, to some extend, also admiration and understanding. She was confused that she felt this all at the same time but decided that it would be wise to answer the men instead of thinking about the Wraith.

"My name is Althea. I swear I don't have any dishonourable intentions. I just want to look around and I don't think that I serve the Wraith."

The man stared at Althea wide-eyed. He obviously hadn't expected such an answer. Eventually he replied, "What do you mean with 'you do not think you serve them'?"-"In fact I cannot say anything certainly. I lost my memories and can only remember my name. Therefore, good man, I cannot tell you what I am. In fact I no not even know what you mean with that."

With an angry look on his face the man turned around and got her a mirror from the nearest booth. He gave it to her, still with an angry face. She looked at her image in the mirror and frightened slightly.

_Well, that is...strange. I didn't know that I look differently. Especially not that much. Apparently I'm not even human!._

This realization left Althea baffled. She was not human, in deed. Even as she saw herself in the mirror she couldn't imagine from where she was. Or to which people she belonged. Her hair were tied up into a ponytail. It reached her mid-back and was snow-white. She also had cat-like eyes. The iris was yellow and Althea thought that they in combination with the vertically pupils looked in deed very dangerous. Apart from that she looked like a human.

After Althea stared at herself for some moments the man forcefully took the mirror and asked with an authoritative voice, "What do you say now? You almost look like one of these damned Wraith! You cannot tell me you don't have anything to do with them. And we do not want anyone in our village who has something to do with THEM! Neither for 2 weeks, nor for 2 minutes. Leave us, NOW!"

_Sounds like he would kill me if I don't leave immediately. I can take him in a duel, but not with so many of his men around. They would kill me before I get a chance to only scratch their leader. Maybe I can convince him that I can stay here until I got something to eat._

"Good man, if you would allow me to stay a little longer, only a while I would be very grateful and..."-"NO! That was your chance to get away, now you'll stay here forever...beneath the earth!"

Without another word the big man tried to behead Althea with his huge axe. But her more-than-good reflexes saved her life. She instinctively ducked down. After that everything has gone very fast. Still ducked, she kicked his right knee frontally, stood up and gave him a hook to the chin. Meanwhile, she grabbed the shaft of the axe with her left hand and turned herself in. The man couldn't hold the axe any longer and let loose of it. In this moment Althea hit him in his face with her left elbow and broke his nose. He stumbled backwards while he covered his broken nose. Althea took the axe in her right hand, turned, boldly, right around her own axis and beheaded the man. Just in this moment she realized what she had done. She had killed a man. She killed the leader of the still armed men. The weapon slit out of her hand, turned and ran away as fast as possible. Luckily Althea was much faster than the watchmen. Some people tried to shoot her with stones but Althea avoided them easily. As she reached the edge of the woods Althea stopped to look for her persecutors. Nothing. She left them behind. She went back to her cave resigned. When she arrived she sank to the floor and stared at the wall across her.

_What the hell am I!? I didn't want to kill this man. But I did. But...why? Everything happened so fast. Too fast. I have to leave this place as fast as possible. The villager will hunt me for sure. But how am I supposed to get away?_

"Of course!" Althea said out loud and ran out of the cave. She ran the way back she came in the beginning until she found the place she had awoken at.

_I remember. That is the 'Portal'. If I dial it I can go to another planet. Seems like my memories return in time. _

Althea went to the DHD without further hesitating. She pushed the 7 symbols she liked the most and finally pushed the orange stone in the middle. After the Stargate was activated she went through. The path of exile lay ahead of her.


	2. Stranger

Stranger

Rain.

It rained outside the cave. Althea listened to the raindrops as they constantly pattered on the forest floor. Caves such as this had become her home in the last few weeks. They protected her from severe storms, snowstorms or anything dangerous that came from the nature. Althea remembered the last days. Some days ago she visited a village on another foreign planet. The villager had been really kind but only because they thought Althea came because of the Wraith-costume-competition. Her clothes already were Wraith-like and her hair and eyes fit by nature. That she won was no surprise. The prize consisted of 2 skilfully crafted shortswords. The festival was very amusing. There had been a lot to drink and nearly everyone laughed. Until a group of kids tried to pull Althea's 'wig' off. Thereupon the villager had seen that she wasn't human and started to ask question. Finally they even threatened her with their weapons. In the end Althea had to flee, for she wanted to avoid bloodshed. Because it hadn't been her blood for sure.

Now as Althea thought back on this events she asked herself if she would ever have a normal life. If she could stay somewhere, find friends and maybe even raise a family. Though it was a nice thought, it seemed very unlikely to her because she simply wasn't normal. She was a monster. At least that's what the human said.

_It's not my fault that I am who I am. It wasn't my decision. Or...was it? Arg, I don't know. _

It continued to rain outside. But Althea didn't attend to it any more. For that she was too deep in her melancholy. There were so many thoughts inside her mind. There were so many things that had to be done. But what for?

_Is there any sense behind all that? I have no idea who or WHAT I am! What did I do to deserve such a fate?_

She warmed herself on the campfire she ignited and stared at the wall across from her. The fire gave only little warmth but enough to not to freeze to death. After several hours passed Althea finally slipped into a very uneasy sleep. She started to dream. Althea didn't know what exactly she dreamed because everything was too blurry. But she remembered a cold feeling of emptiness. Of danger. The taste of fresh blood in her mouth. The people in her dream were too apparitional to identify them but none of the shadows could be trusted. She was absolutely sure of that. A feeling of hostility. But in the midst of those evil shadows was a small light. The light wasn't evil and it didn't want to hurt Althea. On the contrary to the shadows the light seemed to feel truly sorry for her. And it spoke to her.

"Althea, stand up. You must not give up. There are so many things you left unfinished. You once gave me a promise, remember? You have to fulfill it. Please, do it for me."

That voice sounded...familiar. But Althea couldn't tell where she heard it before. She couldn't even tell if the voice belonged to a girl or a boy. Only one thing was sure. Althea once knew and cared for this person.

"What promise? I cannot remember. I've lost my memories. Please, tell me! What did I promise you?" replied Althea.

Suddenly she woke up with no glue what had happened.

The fire had obviously gone out some time ago. All that was left was ash and ember and silence.

Silence.

It was absolutely silent. It stopped to rain, no bird was twittering, no wind moved the branches and leaves of the wood. It was silent enough for Althea to hear the beat of her own heart. It rushed. Slowly she realized that this hadn't been a simple dream. She doubted that the light belonged to the scenery in her dream but the rest did. Including the evil, hateful shadows. Although it seemed very surreal to Althea it also seemed so real at the same time. She knew that she dreamed of her past. At least of a part of it. The memories were there, deep inside herself. Sheltered like a treasure. Buried. Almost completely lost. Surrounded by a barrier she couldn't break at the moment.

_Why is it so silent? That's rather strange for this planet. Something is wrong._

Slowly Althea stood up. She went over to her shortswords and picket them up. She marveled once again at the beautiful blades and eventually put it into the scabbards. After she finished she slowly and overcautious stepped out of the cave.

She looked around but couldn't see anything but trees. In trust of her good senses she closed her eyes to listen.

Nothing.

She heard absolutely nothing.

Althea decided that it was time to go because it seemed that there was nothing of interest on this planet. She walked back to the cave calmly to gather the little belongings she possessed. It consisted of a small and simple bag with provisions inside. That means only some bread and a bottle of water. If she wanted meat she had to hunt it for herself.

After she had everything packed up, Althea was heading back to the Stargate. When she arrived she wanted to dial an address but changed her mind in the last second.

_Why is it so silent here? There has to be a reason. But...I should leave this planet. It would surely be the best. Damn, I need to know what's going on here!_

Without another thought Althea turned on her heels and ran back to the cave. She left her bag in the cave and started to explore the surroundings closely. Althea took her weapons with her.

She was walking around the forest for hours without finding anything at all. She nearly gave up hope when she heard voices. The voices belonged to a boy and a girl. They where somewhere ahead of her. The only thing that separated them was the hill directly in front of Althea.

She climbed it it up very fast and avoided to make any sound. But as she reached it's top the children were gone.

_What? Where are they. Someone cannot simply vanish. That's impossible._

Just in this moment Althea heard their voices again. She heard them behind her. But as she turned around she couldn't see or hear anyone again. She climbed down the hill in bewilderment. Nonetheless, Althea decided to explore the wood further. After a while she reached a river. When she examined the river bank she found exactly what she had expected to find.

Nothing.

With a sigh Althea decided to follow the river. After a short time she discovered a small village from afar. She ducked down immediately and tried to hide as best as possible behind a nearby bush. But something was wrong. In the village weren't any people or animals. Nothing. This planted seemed to be abandoned of life. From what Althea could tell the village was completely extinct. She slowly and carefully approached it.

As she finally entered the village she could see that she was right. It was abandoned. The houses seemed to be pretty ruinous. She past a well which has run out of water a long time ago. Althea took a stone and threw it down the well but couldn't hear the impact. It had to reach very deep down into the ground. Althea desisted from the old well and continued to look around. She was in the center of the village. Or, better said, what was left of it. Huge, cracked vases without flowers stood in every corner. Not far away Althea could make out what once was a taverna.

She decided to leave the center and went straight into a small side street. There she opened the door of a house and entered it. Althea was sure that it once had been comfortable, but that was long ago. Time and weather conditions have taken their toll.

_I would have liked to see this village when there was still life in it. It was beautiful I'm sure._

Althea started to explore the house further and went upstairs. She found a small corridor with a door on each side of it.

She opened the left one first. But all she found was an old and small balcony. As Althea entered the corridor again she closed the door behind her carefully.

Now she opened the other door. Behind it she found two beds and something that maybe once was a closet. As Althea looked around the room she found a little toy soldier with a gun in the one and a sword in the other hand. The colours of the toy were in evidence and it seemed that not even time could destroy or damage it.

_Well, that's a bit scary. I should leave this place behind._

And that's what she did. Althea left the room but didn't close the door behind her this time but rather left the house pretty fast. She didn't run. She couldn't name it but ever since she approached the village she had the feeling to be observed. This feeling sent shivers down her spine. Everything she wanted at that moment was to leave this dead place as far behind as possible.

Once outside the house Althea stopped once again. She had heard something. She closed her eyes to listen.

Nothing.

What ever it was, now it was gone. Althea went to the village center once again to find her way out of this village. Suddenly she saw a boy and a girl right in front of her. They didn't do anything. Didn't say anything. They just stared at her with seemingly empty eyes.

Althea tried to talk to them, "Hello. Who are you? You don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you. My name is Althea. What's yours?"

But none of them answered. The boy wore torn pants and a torn shirt as he first pointed at Althea and then at the house she recently visited. To say Althea was confused would be an understatement. "Yes, I was in this house if that's what you mean. But I didn't break anything. I barely touched anything at all."

This time the girl answered, "You were in our room. No one is allowed to enter our room. Father doesn't want strangers to enter our room. He says that strangers are dangerous. We mustn't trust them. Besides, you touched the toy of my brother. No one is allowed to touch the toy of my brother."

They both couldn't be older than ten or so but they agitated Althea in a very creepy way. The most scary thing about them was their way to talk. Deadhearted. Bare of any kind of emotion.

_That's not normal. Something's wrong with these children. And it's not only their looks. _

She automatically clenched her hands on the weapon shafts. Althea prepared to defend herself although she didn't like the thought at all to even hurt children.

_Are they even still children?_

Althea asked herself this question because these two fitted the rest of the village perfectly. They somehow appeared...dead. Althea couldn't sense any life in them no matter how hard she tried.

_They have to live. The dead cannot walk. That's simply and absolutely impossible. But these children..._

Indecisive Althea didn't move. She wanted to see if the children would make a move or not. But they didn't. None of them even blinked.

They simply stood there and stared at her.

Motionless.

Lifeless.

Cold.

Suddenly Althea felt coldness crawl up and down her spine. She felt as if she would freeze from the inside. But this feeling vanished in the same moment as it appeared. And still the children didn't make a move.

Althea had no idea what to do. Something deep inside of her prevented her from murdering the children but she wanted it still. A strange, soundless voice continuously whispered to her. It gave her the feeling to raise her swords an cut their throats. That voice or rather feeling scared her almost more then the two in front of her.

Almost.

Then everything happened very fast. The boy suddenly held a knife in his hand and attacked Althea with the same indifferent face.

As soon as he was close enough to hurt her, Althea reacted instinctively. As he tried to stab her she parried easily. In the same moment Althea jumped out of the boy's reach. But as soon as her feet hit ground again the girl was on her side. She wanted to back-stab Althea but missed narrowly. Althea was able to dodge in the last moment.

There was still the riot between her conscience and the whispering that told her to murder both of the children. Althea hesitated for only one moment.

One moment too long. The boy ran towards Althea and drove his knife into Althea's side. She screamed in shock and almost fell down. The next view moments Althea couldn't remember. The next thing she did remember were the two kids with separated arms, legs and heads in front of her. There was no blood around them. But there was a bloody knife in some distance lying on the floor. And the stinging pain where the knife had been.

Back in the cave, that served her as a home since she came to the planet, she reignited the campfire and sat beside it. Althea took her clothes off until she only wore her leather-like trousers and her bra. She started to clean the wound at her side with the water from the bottles.

_Damn, that hurts! _

When she finished Althea dressed herself again.

_What had happened? I killed these children! I cannot believe it...I don't want to believe it! What was going on? I..._

Althea threw her head back and let out a scream of pure frustration.

"What's going on with me?" Althea wondered out loud.

_Back in the village I lost control of myself. This mustn't happen again. I...fear it._

Suddenly Althea heard a whisper inside her mind.

_'You don't need to fear it. It's a gift.'_

This wasn't the same voice that told her to kill the children. This voice was REAL. It was really there. It felt like someone tried to communicate with her through her mind.

"What!? W-Who are you?" Althea said out loud.

No answer.

So she tried to replay mentally.

_'Who are you and what do you want?'_

_'Come and find me.'_

And with that the voice and the presence of a stranger mind was gone. Althea almost panicked. She couldn't believe what just had happened.

_Am I insane? Or...have I really communicated with someone else per...telepathy?_

She once again didn't know what to do. Now Althea had two opinions. One, leave this planet as fast as possible and hide on another planet. Or two, go and find the stranger.

_I have no idea who I am. Maybe he or she knows something of me. _

With that Althea went up again. Although the wound still hurt she left the cave and went back to the village.

Armed.

By the time she arrived the dead bodies were gone. There was no trace that anything has happened at all. Althea looked around once more but didn't enter any house again. All the while she had the feeling of being observed again. She felt strange. It was almost as if someone was beside her. But she was alone. And the feeling only got stronger as she approached the dead village again.

Once again she passed the empty well. Althea was still injured so she couldn't climb down to see what's on the ground.

The hours passed by and all too soon Althea had to face nightfall. She decided to go and come back tomorrow to continue her research.

Back in her cave Althea fell asleep quickly. She dreamt again. This time she dreamt of dark tunnels. She walked along it but couldn't control herself. It was as if someone was controlling her body. Or as if she'd see through someone else's eyes. She still went along and finally came to an exit. Then she saw trees, bushes and wild flowers. She started to move again. After some time of walking she came to the village center once again and looked to the stars. Althea suddenly felt a strange longing that wasn't her own. Then she heard the voice again.

_'Leave!'_

Althea woke up in a scream. She quickly looked around to make sure that she was alone. And in deed she was. Althea couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.

Like the other days Althea approached the village again. The situation hadn't changed in the least. There was still no life in it. But this time she stopped right at the old well. She suddenly had to remember her dream last night were she walked through tunnels. Despite her injury Althea decided it was time to take a risk and climb down the well. Maybe there where tunnels underneath the village? She managed to climb down about ten meter when her side started to hurt really bad. Althea had some trouble to not fall all the way down. But it was futile. Before she realized what was happening, Althea lost her hold and fell down into the darkness.

It was dark when she woke up lying beside the Gate. She marvelled at how she had come there. The last thing she remembered was darkness and the hard impact on the ground of the well. Her head hurt like hell but she seemed to be uninjured. Even the wound at her side was gone. Althea wondered about how this was possible while she stood up from the ground. As she looked around she wound her bag and swords lying not far away from her. She also realized that the feeling of observation was gone.

_Strange._

And with that last thought she picked up her belongings, turned around and dialled another address. _Maybe I'll come back somewhen._

With that in mind Althea left the dead planet behind.


	3. Oblivion

Oblivion

The morning sun glared through the close-drawn curtains right onto Althea's face. The curtains weren't thick so most of the light shone through. This disturbed her a lot, for she didn't want to leave bed so early.

One week ago Althea once again came to a village, disguised of course, with the intention of stealing food and clothing. Everything had gone south when some men had seen her stealing food from a merchant. They were tall and had a lot of muscles. But they hadn't attacked her like Althea expected them to do. They just made her come with them into a brothel. There she met a very small men with dark blonde hair who offered her accommodation, food and everything else she needed or wanted. In exchange she only had to fulfill special wishes that guests might have. Althea was about to affront the midget and ask if he thought her to be a common whore when he explained to her what this special wishes would consist of. He revealed to her that this wasn't a simple brothel but also a place where assassins and skilled thieves found shelter. He knew that she could fight and steal so the tiny man asked her to stay and serve him as a sellsword under his command. After Althea had agreed the man introduced himself with the name Jasper. Althea did likewise. He also demanded to see her face if she was going to work for him. After a lot of arguing Althea eventually had shown her face to the man. He had merely nodded and said that her room was upstairs.

Now, one week after that, Althea hadn't had one mission and was bored to death.

_Still better than living in caves and fight to live another day._

She put her head under the pillow to block the sun. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and a woman jelled at her from outside, "Hey! You! Wake up! Jasper wants to see you immediately! Don't let him wait!"

Althea finally stood up grumbling and started to dress herself in casual clothes. She put on a pair of beige pants, a simple white blouse and a pair of brown shoes. She let her hair fall free like everyday since she came there. There was no need for a ponytail since she didn't need to fight. Althea beheld herself one last time in the mirror and finally made her way to Jasper. There was no need to disguise herself because Jasper would meet her in the cellar of the brothel where no customer would go. When she arrived she let herself lazily fall onto the chair across her employer. The room was pretty spartan. It merely consisted of one table with two chairs, three oil lamps and a very intimidating bodyguard.

Jasper spoke, "You're late. Hasn't my servant told you not to keep me waiting?"

"She did tell me." Althea replied.

"Then what did take you so long?"

"I'm a woman."

Jasper glared at Althea with a very angry face. In the next moment he started to laugh heartily and almost fell down from the chair. All the while Althea looked at him with the same disported expression.

When Jasper regained back some control over himself he called out to his bodyguard to bring the customer in.

Before he could come back he prepared Althea for what was about to happen, "Listen, this is your first and only chance to prove yourself. The one that very soon will sit with us at this table wants your services. Maybe he or she wants you to kill somebody. But whatever happens, keep your mouth shut. I'll also address you as 'Oblivion'. Since you told me that you can't remember your past, I think this is a proper name. Don't look so skeptic, everyone under my command has an alias. They mustn't know your real name. That could be very dangerous. It's really important to not let anyone know who you really are, for names are very powerful in this business. Who knows your name has the power to control you. Never forget that."

"You know my real name." Althea stated calmly.

"Well, that's true. If you are disobedient there's nowhere for you to hide. I'll let everyone know your name and how you look. You'll eventually be killed by either one of my assassins or by a bloodthirstily inhabitant of any other village you may cross. Do you now see how much power one who knows a name holds?"

"I see."

"Very well. Now that we disgusted this," Jasper said "I want you to stand in that dark corner behind me. Over there you'll be able to see our customer but he'll only be able to see your silhouette. We don't want to scare him, now, do we?"

Althea gave Jasper a final smirk and went to the corner. She felt absolute secure within the shadow and waited patiently for the customer to arrive. Finally the door opened and a very fragile man entered the cellar. He looked about 40 and had dark brown hair. He had dark circles around his eyes and looked really tired. He made his way towards the chair across Jasper and sat down. The bodyguard already standing behind Jasper. The newly arrived man looked around and found Althea. He obviously couldn't see her all to well because he didn't panic like most people did when they had seen her.

Finally Jasper spoke, "Be welcome my friend. I assure you the one in the corner isn't dangerous for you. Now, before you tell me what you want I want to know your name."

"G-Garret. M-My n-name is Garret."

"Very well, what's you concern Garret?"

"My w-wife. She betrays me w-with the fisherman. And s-she exposed me b-by spreading nasty l-lies about me. And-" He obviously was very nervous.

"And what?"

"A-And I want to make h-her pay. I want to s-see her d-dead. C-can you do that?"

"Well, of course we can. This one in the corner is called Oblivion. She'll dispatch your wife for you. The only thing that we need from you is her name, where we can find her and, of course, a proper payment for our services."

"Y-yes, of course. Her name is L-Lynda. She spends most of her t-time at the near sea. I-I'll pay you anything you want."

"That's music to my ears! Well, the price would be two hundred gold coins. Is it set?"

"T-That's quite a lot, but I agree on your terms. It's set."

"Wonderful! I'll collect the payment after the work is done. 'Til then go home my friend and wait for Oblivion. My bodyguard will show you the way out."

"T-Thank you. Goodbye."

Althea observed the conversation and chuckled as soon as the door was closed behind Garret.

Jasper turned around and asked a little confused, "What's so funny?"

Still standing in the dark corner Althea replied in an amused tone, "This man is ridiculous. He wants to see his wife killed because she was telling lies and hadn't been faithful? That's in my eyes a good reason to be really angry, not to say furious, but not to see her killed."

Jasper answered in an irritated tone, "Why he wants to see his wife killed in none of our business. All that's interesting is that he pays his debts after the work is done. Now get what you need and find his wife. Kill her and after her death get rid of the corpse. Do you understand?"

"I do."

"Don't disappoint me."

"I won't."

Up in her room again, Althea changed her clothes from casual to 'working clothes'. That would be black leather pants, a black long sleeved top and her black leather coat. She also put her hair to a ponytail again. After she readied herself she sat on the floor and meditated. She did so for quite a long time because Althea wanted to wait until nightfall.

Finally it was dark outside. She sneaked out of the brothel without making a sound. Garret said that his wife loved the nearby sea so Althea went towards it. She didn't meat anyone on her way.

_That's no surprise. Every normal being should be asleep at this time. Thanks to Jasper I am not._

She found the sea about one kilometer outside the village. Of course Garrets wife wasn't here but Althea thought that it might me wise to visit the soon-to-be place of the murder.

_Over there are some tall bushes. If this Lynda stands on the opposite of it, staring at the sea I should be able to kill her from behind without her recognizing me. Seems pretty easy. Hm...but how will I get rid of her dead body? _

At her right side Althea discovered a cliff. An idea started to form inside her head.

_Hm...Maybe I could carry her corpse up there and throw her down the cliff into the sea? That sounds good! But now let's go back 'home'. I'll wait until tomorrow noon. _

After beholding the beautiful scenery one last time Althea heeded back to the brothel to sleep for the rest of the night.

The next day Althea slept until noon. When she readied herself she started to feel a little bit strange. Pretty uncomfortable. She didn't like the thought to kill someone that hasn't done anything to her. Someone that never hurt her. Unlike those strange children some time ago...

_Stop it immediately! Just concentrate on the task at hand. Find Lynda. And kill her. It's easy. You'll get paid, bring the money to Jasper and wait for the next quest. That's it. No dead children walking around. _

With a sigh Althea grabbed her weapons while she tried to bane the uneasy feeling of guilt. But it wouldn't go away. The thought of killing Lynda still made her sick. But there was no way to change anything. She had a mission and needed to go.

And so Althea once again made her way to the beautiful sea. This time she had to disguise herself and sneak through the village. It would be very unpleasant for her to be seen. When she arrived Lynda was nowhere to be seen.

_It's pretty early, so maybe Lynda is still at home. I'll wait until she comes._

And so she did. Althea hid behind the bush she had determined to be her shelter the night before. The hours passed and it felt like an eternity. Finally Lynda had shown up. She stood there, staring at the sea with her back towards Althea. She had light blonde hair that hung loose over her shoulders and she wore a long white dress that was moved by the wind just like her hair. Slowly Althea drew a hidden knife and sneaked up from behind. Suddenly Lynda turned around and faced her executor. Still disguised with a hood Althea covered her mouth with her left hand and pressed the knife to Lynda's throat with the other hand. Now she could see beautiful crystal-blue eyes wide open, staring at her with a shocked expression written all over her face. Althea tried to make herself kill that woman...but she couldn't. With an angry growl she threw the knife away and turned around.

After some moments of awkward silence Lynda gathered the strength to speak, "Why didn't you kill me?"

"I don't know. I simply couldn't."

"You're an assassin, right?"

"Yes."

"Who sent you to kill me?"

"I cannot tell you. You should be thankful that I let you live. So stop asking questions!"

"But...there is still something I need to know. What will happen next? Someone wants to see me dead. If you won't kill me then someone else will come! Please, tell me what can I do?"

Slowly Althea turned around with her head held down.

"Maybe we can pretend that you're dead. But you have to leave the planet immediately. No packing, no goodbyes. You have to flee and never return. But the men I am working for want a proof of your demise."

"Here! Take this necklace. It belonged to my grandmother and is very precious to me. I hate it to give it away but it's the only way you can convince them of my demise as you say."

Lynda handed the necklace over to Althea. It was beautiful in its simplicity. It only had one little green gem hanging on a silver chain.

"Very well. Then I shall wait until nightfall until I return to my client. Until then you have time to leave this planet."

"Oh thank you, thank you so much! You can be sure of my eternal gratitude. Just one more question...what's your name?"

"Oblivion. My name is Oblivion."

"I-I haven't expected y-you to c-come so soon. H-Have you d-done it? H-Have you k-killed her?"

"I have. And I can proof it." Althea said. She wasn't back in the brothel but rather in Garret's and Lynda's house. Now, of course, it belonged to Garret alone. They stood in the dark bedroom, Althea disguised again and Garret with nothing but a pair of pants.

She gave him a small object.

"Here. That's Lynda's necklace. I hope that is proof enough."

"S-She wouldn't give h-her n-necklace away. It w-was very p-precious t-to her. I b-believe that you k-killed her."

"Now what about the payment? You still remember our arrangement?"

"Oh y-yes of course. Here you have i-it. 200 pieces of g-gold."

"Very well. Farewell Garret. Hopefully we won't meet again."

"Oh, ah, y-yes. F-Farewell."

Back in the brothel, Althea handed the payment over to Jasper who seemed very pleased at the sight of it. He expressed his thanks to Althea for fulfilling her task and in doing so to have proven herself worthy of staying. He had no idea that in reality Lynda was still alive.

Althea spent the rest of the day in her room, thinking over what had happened and which consequences her decision of letting Garret's wife live might have. She fell asleep late in the night. It was an uneasy sleep again due to the strange dreams. It wasn't nasty or scary. Just very confusing. In fact it was mere feelings she dreamt of altogether with very blurry motions. She felt fear, pride, joy and sadness in her dreams. And then nothing.

Althea spent the next few weeks with spying on unfaithful husbands and sometimes stealing precious objects. Her life had become a routine.

For the time being.


End file.
